A comment on the structure of xenon hexafluoride

Abstract

Calculations based on the minimization of the repulsion energy between electron pairs show that the structure of xenon hexafluoride is predicted if the non-bonding electron pair is situated close to the xenon atom. If a value of n = 6 is assumed in the repulsion law, the distance between the xenon atom and the effective centre of repulsion of the lone pair is approximately 10% of the distance between the xenon atom and the effective centres of repulsion of the bonding pairs.